Did you know that October is National
Apple Month? According to the US Apple Association apples are grown in every
state in the continental United States. Top-producing states include
Washington, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, California, and Virginia.
Here at Applied Process we have some staff favorites including: Honeycrisp, Macintosh,Gala,and Granny Smith apples. Apples are delicious, whether consumed raw or baked into pies, cakes, and other desserts.
Since heat treating is our thing here at Applied Process we thought we would mention how apples react to temperature changes during processing (ahem, cooking). What exactly happens to an apple when you’re making applesauce, for example? Usually applesauce is made by cooking down apples in a bath of liquid; typically apple juice or apple cider. The heat does two things: it begins reducing the water from the added liquid and it breaks down the fiber and sugars in the apples which changes their texture from firm to soft, enabling the easy mashing of the fruit to make a delicious fall treat! Kind of like how we turn ductile iron from good to great with our austempering process!
So go out and enjoy some apples this weekend in whatever form is your favorite!
